March 25th, 2010
PC Magazine – Microsoft has scheduled a “Project Natal for Xbox 360 Experience” press conference at the E3 show in Los Angeles on June 13. But whether it’s a formal announcement or just another explanation of the technology won’t be known until then.
The news was revealed by by PlanetXbox360 and other gaming publications, which began receiving invitations to the event on Thursday. Microsoft has scheduled another Xbox 360-related press conference for Monday morning, although I would assume that would cover the upcoming lineup of games for the console.
Project Natal, of course, is Microsoft’s camera-based motion controller. In early demontrations, the technology has been extremely impressive, although no one quite knows how Natal will hold up in real-world gameplay in millions of different home gaming setups. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft said that the Natal technology would ship by the 2010 holiday season. …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: consumer electronics show, e3 show, Lance Ulanoff, Los Angeles, Natal, PC Magazine - Microsoft, Project, technology. | #
March 12th, 2010
NewsFactor – Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video-game console moved to the top of the U.S. market in February. The software giant’s console had been number two behind the Nintendo Wii for nearly three years.
The popularity of the new BioShock 2 game may have been behind Microsoft’s sales of 422,000 Xbox 360s in February, an eight percent increase from a year earlier, according to NPD Group. Nintendo sold 397,900 Wiis and Sony sold 360,100 PlayStation 3 consoles in February.
The BioShock 2 game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was released on Feb. 10 and sold 750,000 units. Of those, 75 percent, or 562,900, were for the Xbox 360.
…
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: America, Dennis Durkin, misty may treanor, Misty-May, Natal, NewsFactor, nintendo wii, Ray Leonard, Reggie Fils-, U.S., Willie Gault, Xbox. | #
January 26th, 2010
AP – When Apple introduced the iPhone, it shook up the cell phone business but it also changed the way people play video games. About a quarter of the 100,000 applications that you can download to the iPhone are games, ranging from the simple “Doodle Jump” to a version of “Grand Theft Auto.”
Now, with the looming launch of a tablet-style computer — already nicknamed the “iPhone on steroids,” with a bigger screen that might have a place in the living room — Apple could pose an even tougher challenge to established players in the video game business. …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: America, Aurora, cell phone business, Graeme Devine, Ian Lynch, iPhone, John Koller, Mac, Mark Pincus, Natal, Peter Relan, sony computer entertainment america. | #
December 30th, 2009
PC World – Is the following clip of someone ostensibly playing Valve’s Half Life 2 on an Xbox 360 with their arms and fingers a glimpse of things to come from Microsoft’s Project Natal?
In the grainy, jerky video noticed by Gossip Gamer, a player gesticulates not unlike Tom Cruise in Minority Report, signaling with his arms and flexing his digits to pan his view around the rebel research lab visited toward the beginning of the dystopian sci-fi shooter. He holds his right arm rigid, almost like a breakdancer about to do the robot, swinging it left or right and slightly up or down to maneuver the camera in turn. His index and middle fingers appear extended, gun-like, while the other fingers curl under. The motion capture device itself–presumably (though not verifiably) the Natal camera–rests on a tripod below the screen just a few feet in front of him.
At about the 0:30 mark, his left hand makes an appearance (it’s hidden by his body, interposed between it and whoever’s filming) and illustrates fine-motion control. His right arm aims the camera, while the left “grabs” the view and shifts it in smaller increments, allowing him to “feel around” the table and explore more carefully. It’s not apparent how he’s moving forward or backward, but I’m assuming that’s done with the (hidden) left hand too.
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: clip, half life 2, middle fingers, Natal, pc world, Tom Cruise, view. | #
